American Theatre Wing Gala to Celebrate Legacy of Jonathan Larson
The American Theatre Wing has announced that its 2019 gala will honor the legacy of late Rent creator Jonathan Larson and the Larson family. The star-studded event, which will feature one-of-a-kind performances from a variety of artists impacted by his work, will be held at Cipriani 42nd Street on September 16. "Few individuals have truly changed the theater industry as Jonathan Larson did," said Heather Hitchens, president and CEO of the American Theatre Wing. "Though his scope of work, as well as his life, was cut tragically short, the connection that the theater community and fans across the world made to his work is unmeasurable." In addition to his Tony- and Pulitzer-winning musical Rent, Larson penned the off-Broadway hit Tick, Tick...BOOM!, which is currently in development as a film.

Sally Field Among 2019 Kennedy Center Honorees
Tony-nominated stage-and-screen actress Sally Field has been selected among the 2019 Kennedy Center honorees. She will be toasted with a ceremony and performance held in the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington, D.C. on December 8. Field made her Broadway debut in The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? and earned a Tony nomination for The Glass Menagerie; she recently concluded a London run of All My Sons opposite Bill Pullman. Field's numerous screen credits include Oscar-winning turns in Norma Rae and Places in the Heart and Emmy-winning performances in Sybil, ER and Brothers & Sisters. Joining Field among the 2019 Kennedy Center honorees are R&B vets Earth, Wind and Fire (whose music was heard in the 2006 Broadway musical Hot Feet) as well as singer Linda Ronstadt, conductor Michael Tilson Thomas and the Emmy-winning children's television program Sesame Street.

Andréa Burns Joins West Side Story Film as Fausta
New York stage veteran Andréa Burns has joined the cast of the highly anticipated West Side Story film remake. Burns will take on the role of Fausta in the major motion picture adapted by Tony Kushner, directed by Steven Spielberg and choreographed by Justin Peck, set to arrive in cinemas on December 18, 2020. Burns, who has appeared in numerous regional productions of West Side Story, has been seen on Broadway in In the Heights, On Your Feet!, The Nance, The Ritz, The Full Monty and Beauty and the Beast. She joins a previously announced West Side Story film cast led by Ansel Elgort as Tony, Rachel Zegler as Maria, Ariana De Bose as Anita, Mike Faist as Riff, David Alvarez as Bernardo, Josh Andrés Rivera as Chino, Brian d'Arcy James as Sergeant Krupke, Corey Stoll as Lieutenant Schrank and Oscar-winning original Anita Rita Moreno taking on the newly conceived role of Valentina.